investors are counting on. i'll keep on top of that story. that's our show for today. i'm ali velshi. thank you for joining us. [music] this is al jazeera america. i'm john siegenthaler in new york. strategy session. the president's big speech. how to degrade and destroy the self declared islamic state and how this is different from wars in iraq and afghanistan. secretary of state john kerry tries to persuade wary allies to join the siege. conflict raging in syria.

9/11, tomorrow is the 13th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. how america is remembering the fallen. one hour from now president obama will address the nation, he will lay out his plan to dismantle the islamic state group. and for more than a year the united states has he avoided the syrian action. mike viqueria joins us. mike. >> we expect president obama to announce not only are thee beefing up air strikes over iraq where they have been going on for over a month. they are also going to be increasing military assistance

to iraq. the big story, air strikes against the islamic state group inside syria. hours before the president's speech, secretary of state john kerry turned up in pag baghdad, vowing support. but the fight against the islamic state group is no longer confined to iraq. tonight president obama's expected to outline a plan to expand the campaign into syria. he spent the day on the phone with key allies like king abdalla of jordan. an nbc wall street journal poll shows that 61% of americans support a campaign against islamic state. mr. obama asked for a vote in

congress on plans for air strikes in syria and the face of resistance on capitol capitol hill, president obama backed off of that direction. >> we will have another no man's land. >> tonight mr. obama is expected to announce that the fight against the islamic state will take years not months. mixed messages in the wake of murders of two americans, james foley and steven sotloff. >> we will follow them to the gates of hell because hell is where they reside. >> i won't want to put the cart before the horse. we don't have a strategy yet. >> an estimated 191,000 people

have been killed in the war in syria. >> i would say for those guys in i.s.i.s. if there is one single act which will really stiffen their backbone to go kick their butt that's it. >> and john no mistake there, you saw the photo open of president obama on the phone with king abdalla. president obama will announce in his speech that training bases for vetted moderate opposition within syria will be on saud territory. john. >> all right, mike viqueria, mike. the president will make his case to the american people tonight. but the white house also wants foreign leaders to join the fight against the islamic state group. nick schifrin from our middle east bureau. nick. >> john, good evening, the u.s. believes that the islamic state group presents a clear and present danger to u.s. interests here in the middle east and

eventually to the u.s. itself. but it's not enough to target the group militarily. the u.s. needs to use diplomas . >> the enemy of my enemy is my friend. the islamic state group still controls one-third of iraq and syria. the u.s. can't defeat the group militarily. it must convince a normally fractious region to unite. >> it needs to be isolated diplomatically. needs to be clear that it has no allies in the region. >> i think administration understands it doesn't want to end up in a one on one battle with a sunni force in the region. >> the united states will try unite sunni dominated states for a growing consensus for the enemy, shia iran.

>> let them continue that because right now our interests in the iranians are unitied, we want iraq to be a some unitary state. >> kuwait can cut off financing. saudi arabia can help eliminate some support for the islamic state group. >> saudi arabia has the power to persuade public opinion in the sunni arab world and particularly inside of iraq to encourage iraqi sunnis to break with the islamic state. >> reporter: turkey can prevent foreign fighters from joining and provide bases for fighting. but the important part are those battling the be islamic state on the ground. local fighters to take lead. >> we'll probably see a coordinated land campaign with the iraqis, both arab and kurd

providing forces and the u.s. providing air power intelligence planning scrongz synchronize sayings. >> save haven for islamic state fighters to retreat to. >> we have a very good game plan. for the short run management of the islamic state threat. but we don't have actually any kind of a game plan for a regional alliance, regional understanding or addressing the problems long run. >> reporter: and so the test of the u.s. strategy won't be the president's words. it will be what the u.s. does to create political solutions and long term alliances to combat a common enemy. it all adds up to what critics say has been missing in this region which is american leadership. many countries here in the middle east say the u.s. and president obama himself have actually neglected them. obama is trying to convince them

that that is no longer the case. that is an uphill battle to win john but it is a battle that the u.s. and obama himself will have to win. if it gains the alliances that it can actually use to defeat the islamic state group. >> nick schifrin in the middle east tonight. mike, welcome. >> hello john. >> what do you think the president's mission will be here? >> it's leadership. if he gets out in front and says the americans are going to lead this effort to destroy i.s.i.s. that will go a long way and then he will lay out a plan to do that. that's some of the things we expect, increase of air strikes, holistic approach, make sure the borders are sealed, contain them in iraq get the government stepped up and then deal with them in syria. >> there's been talk of air strikes in syria. what can be the ramifications of that? >> if they go after the head of the snake, that classic technique that we used in

somalia, yemen, the leaders of this organization, it does degrade their capability on a going-forward basis. i would like to think we will gain intelligence over the next couple of months and then we'll look to pick off some of the leaders as we find them, they won't be able to hide. >> the president said no boots on the ground. can he keep that promise? >> i think he'll do everything he can to keep that promise. that's going to be the bright line between what happened here and in iraq-afghanistan. this continue terrorism campaign is what he'll call it, i believe, no troops on the ground but lead from above. >> it's a complex situation. how does the united states and the coalition know which groups to go after? >> i think that's a great question. i think we're going to have to look to see what comes offline. what goes from syrian, the syrian free army troops to be training in saudi arabia, how do they go offline and go back into the fight? i'm not sure how that works.

there's a lot of details to work out, especially if rival forces fight shoulder to shoulder to get i.s.i.s. >> when it comes to the islamic state -- >> probably not, in the short term right now we have got to contain them right there. they're so focused right now on standing up to their own government i don't believe that we've got to worry about a coordinated attack let's say from them. over the horizon if we don't take mind of them they will be a threat. >> what can israel and turkey help? >> they are going to counterbalance the shia and others there from iran. they are going to want to say in what the next syrian government looks like. they have a stake in the game. they will have to take leadership roles as well. >> the united states has spent a lot of money in the last decade on iraq and afghanistan. how much will this cost? >> that's a good one, in the

billions of dollars unfortunately. we'll stop the blunting of them moving forward, going after them, i wouldn't be surprised three times cost, 20 to 25 million a day versus the eight we're spending right now. >> does the president in some ways help the recruiting of the islamic state? >> well you know i'm one that believes your enemy is going to hate you no matter what. i think we'll send a meafnlg the we're not going -- message that we're not going to tolerate it. if we send a message that will go a long way but rest assured if you come to jihad in iraq or syria you'll be a target for the u.s. air force. >> thank you,. a series of car bombs killed several people in baghdad today. sue turton is live ton ground in erbil, sue what are the expectations for president's

speech? >> well, they are really hoping that the air strike mission will be extended. i think nobody on the ground is saying that they haven't done their job. and i think many of the fighters who have watched the air strike not islamic state fighters, positions and allow them to go into places that have been besieged or held for the i.s. for many months really would say they can't do that without the american jet fighters dropping their bombs. i think they're also looking for just a change in the mission if you like, the mission to begin with was for america's strovment protect u.s. citizens. -- involvement to protect u.s. citizens. i think the mission creep in focus would be they would hope to really push back to push back the islamic state from iraq altogether. interestingly many people in iraq will say they do not want to return the american boots on the ground. the message from the white house that is not going to be the case. but i was speaking to one

peshmerga general who said yes we do want american boots on the ground, western boots on the ground, a coalition of groups to come in because he says i don't think we can beat this force without them and also i don't think we can keep in check the various factions that are fighting this on behalf of the iraqi government and he's speaking of the shia militia. >> is there a sense the u.s. should have moved sooner on this? >> reporter: yes, i suppose there is. we certainly think i think everybody was caught short with really how fast the islamic state fighters stole a march into iraq, coming across the syrian border and pushing very easily ointo a large swath of iraq. the concern came when there was a u.s. concern in erbil and baghdad. that was when the button was pressed. i do think they think here that they wouldn't have gotten as far if the united states had gotten

involved a lot sooner and wouldn't have taken as many towns if they had started the air strikes sooner. >> this comes on the heels of several attacks on baghdad. is there a sense of optimism and hope about this plan? >> do you mean optimism from the speech that something extraordinary will be said? >> yes. >> i don't think so. no. i think that there is optimism that maybe it will provoke other nations, maybe the gulf nations, maybe the neighboring nations to get involved. i think in the end that is what the neighboring nations want, not to be just a u.s. push or a western push but a wider coalition. i know secretary of state john kerry is going to saudi arabia to talk to many of the gulf partners there. so i think maybe that they're hoping there will be strong words coming out of the white

house. i don't think they think this is going to be the master plan that sorts out the islamic state in iraq. >> all right sue turton in iraq. sue thank you. founder of women for women international and author of between two worlds documenting her life growing up under saddam hussein. >> good to be back. >> are you optimistic about what the president's going to say tonight or not? >> not really. >> why? >> that's because of the president whatever he's going to say but because this is a very dangerous and dark time in the middle east and particularly in iraq. this is a time when everyone is afraid. the sunnies are afraid the shia are afraid the curds are afraid. everyone are supporting their own militias. the sunnies are supporting i.s.i.s. because they're afraid they're going to be killed by the shias. even the christians are now being asked, are now asking to

be armed to defend themselves. >> it's difficult to have a unified front against the islamic state because? >> because there is no national unity. since the invasion of iraq there hasn't been a government -- >> regional unity? >> it is one thing to bomb i.s.i.s. and iraq and syria. it's another thing to have a approach to the middle east. the map of the middle east has changed. the u.s. has to reassess its own politics to send a consistent message on it. on the middle east it would like to see. >> for years now we have heard from the middle east we don't want the united states deciding what goes on, we don't want the united states deciding what the plan and the vision will be. why didn't the players in the middle east decide what the vision would be? >> well, we are in a transition time. i'm hoping that ultimately the solution will have to be from the middle east and will have to be from the vision of the middle

east which we do not have yet. right now it is about turning the fire off and it is in the u.s. interest it is in the u.s. interest to stop i.s.i.s. from expanding because if iraq falls apart this is a new crisis for the whole region. >> you and i have talked about this before. is the sunni-shia division is that the primary division we're talking about? >> no -- >> because in the united states we make a lot of that division. too much? >> well, that division has indeed is a historical one so you cannot deny that. but historically i.t. has gone up and -- hiflt it -- historically it has gone up and down. there were decades in which it was suppressed and very informal. >> now it's back? >> now it's back in a very serious way. we're opening the pandora's box. the crisis is now what is islam, is it fundamentalist islam, is

it islam that is returning back to the islamic state across the region or are we back to nation-states where each nation is in control of its own. is this more of an ideologic issue? >> you grew up under the rule of saddam hussein in iraq, the tyranny of saddam hussein. what's changed since then? >> the biggest change was a couple of things. a vertical violence by the society. control by the regime and the regime was in charge of the suppression and the violence and all of these things. >> and now? >> and now it's a horizontal one. you take women, as an example. i look at what happens to women as a bellwether. his sons his brothers of saddam, now every woman in iraq is afraid of every man in iraq. who is the militia, who is going to force them? >> chaos. >> chaos. before it was vertical now it's

horizontal violence. >> a country that has he be durd so much for so long and it continues. -- endured so much so long. we will talk to you later. >> thank you. >> 19-year-old shannon conley was arrested earlier this year in denver. officials say she wanted to marry a man she met online who claimed to be a fighter for islamic state group. as part of a plea deal conley has agreed to tell the united states everything she knows about others. coming up, the ray rice controversy when did the nfl first see that violent video? plus a break through in detroit that could help the city finally emerge from bankruptcy.

>> live pictures from the white house, we're waiting for the president's address at the top of the hour and we'll bring you live. more news to report tonight. there's a report that nfl

received a copy of that video of ray rice punching his then fiancee in april. jessica taff, what does this mean for the commissioner of nfl? >> not good. his credibility is being questioned to the int nth degre. now we've gone to a whole other level of him lying and they're calling it willful negligence is the term they're using now. essentially this now is a fluid situation and now weem people want to find out whether did he actually see the video because what he said is absolutely false. >> with the nfl domestic policy you know about this rice would have only got an six game suspension, is that right? does he have a case to appeal? >> the thing that happens now is he absolutely does. not only does very a case but there are two current players right now in the league that are playing.

one was actually convicted of a misdemeanor charge back in july, carolina panther greg hardy and ray mcdonald, since this new thing came in order from the 49ers he actually played as well on sunday while he's waiting for appeal. they are -- should be sitting out but they are still on the field. >> they're questioning whether he was treated fairly. >> absolutely. >> what should happen in the nfl? >> should roger goodell step down? right now, the nfl is going to do their own investigation. they're going to look at the phone number that the ap reported, that admitted yes we have the video. they're going to find out why did roger goodell not get this video, if he did not see it why wasn't it brought to him and the fact that the nfl is such a powerful organization, the fact that they weren't able to get a piece of video that really was available to them.

the casino security said nobody at one point ever ever contacted anybody to get the video. >> these are big questions that haven't been answered yet. all right jessica we'll talk later. police shooting of michael brown, people blocked parts of interstate 70 at the start of rush hour. they were protesting against the governor's failure to appoint a special prosecutor in the case. darren wilson police officer. several protesters today. the judge adjourned the city of detroit's bankruptcy trial until next week giflg lawyers and a major contractor time to are finalize detail. bisi onile-ere is in detroit. >> reporter: john, hundreds of millions of dollars in this bankruptcy, in fact the company was one of the city's biggest challengers up until now in this deal among many things, would

receive 26% of what is owed and detroit would also extend the company its lease on a tunnel that connects the u.s. to canada. now bankruptcy judge suspended this trial for now just to give the city enough time to hammer out this deal and possibly other deals. this is a big win for the city of detroit. however, it's the bankruptcy judge who has the final say on whether the city's entire restructuring plan is fair and feasible. >> and the other thing too that still has to be tried no matter what is feasibility. and the judge has to be convinced that the plan is doable by the city and not just a series of empty promises going forward. >> tuesday the city announced the plan to turn the water department into a regional authority. to provide the water department with millions of dollars to upgrade its aging system. detroit's bankruptcy trial is expected to resume monday.

john. >> bisi onile-ere reporting. the global fight against the ebola virus is $50 million richer. bill and melinda gates donated the money. will go to international aid groups and more medical supplies and support. the world health organization said yesterday another 200 people died from the virus just in one day. up next. fighters in syria with american passports, what's being done to prevent the islamic state fighters from coming to the u.s. and at the top of the hour it's president obama's address to the nation. live pictures from washington. he'll be talking about the islamic state group. we'll have analysis and reaction to the president's plan. don't go away, we'll be right back.

>> this is al jazeera america.

i'm john siegenthaler, in about 30 minutes president obama talks to the nation about his plan to defeat the self declared islamic state. we expect him to say the u.s. will use air strikes to take out islamic state fighters wherever they exist. the u.s. has already conducted over 150 air strikes against the group in iraq but not in syria. president obama met with his national security team today, he made calls to train and arm syrian rebels. officials at the highest level of the u.s. government are concerned about americans joining the islamic state group and then using what they've learned to launch attacks here at home. lisa stark reports. >> john they are a significant security concern, according to testimony on capitol hill.

it was in testimony in front of the house homeland security committee. foreigners are coming in to join in on the fight. this is what so worries security and intelligence officials: radicalized american citizens, in this case a 22-year-old florida man who headed to syria, denounced the u.s. joined the group fighting the syrian government then pulled off a suicide bombing there. there are an estimated 12,000 foreign fighters in syria, several thousand hold western passports, including about 100 americans. individuals who might find it easy to slip into the u.s. terrorists could be just one visa free flight away from arriving in the united states bringing with them their skills and their training and their ideology and their commitment to killing americans. >> reporter: the biggest concern is with the islamic

state group. a homeland security official says there is no evidence the group has any imminent plans to attack the u.s. but that the group and its effective social media campaign poses a real threat. >> and i think our near term concern is that that campaign will be quite appealing to individuals who would seek to radicalize, whether they are over in europe or they're here in the home land. and they could conduct an attack on their own at any time. >> reporter: in britain the government announced it will soon begin revoking passports of those who have begun to fight had syria. there is pressure on those in the united states. >> the taint doe -- the state department does have the authority to revoke those

passports. >> reporter: can the u.s. even track american fighters overseas? that florida man who received training in syria was able to return to the u.s. for a few months before heading back to syria to carry out his attack. >> when i ask a question do we have a high degree of confidence as to who these people are over there, i'm not only satisfied with the answer, i think the honest answer is we don't. >> reporter: administration officials testified they are working hand in hand with western allies and others to share information, to try to identify foreign fighters before they get into the u.s. one lawmaker warned them to act quickly, that time is of the essence. lawmakers also opinioned out that the u.s. does not -- pointed out that the u.s. does not have good intelligence on the ground in syria. intelligence that could help them identify and keep track of those foreign fighters . john. >> that's lisa stark in washington. and now david schuster he's in the newsroom. we're going to to be hearing from the president the top of

the hour. the pressure is on. talk about the political challenges he faces. >> john, the president's focus on the islamic state group comes at a critical time for him and for the democratic party, facing a rough term going into the fall elections. own 42% of americans approve of the way he is handling his job. 51% disapprove. those are near the worst numbers recorded for president obama. when asked about his leadership only 43% of the survey say he is a strong leader, 51% say he is not a strong leader. those are the worst numbers of his presidency. when it comes to international problems, particularly islamic state group, 52% say the president has been too cautious, 8% no opinion and 32% about right. islamic state forces in iraq

there have been increased calls from lawmakers in both parties to expand the u.s. military role and the public's hawkishness, to attack the islamic state in syria is growing. 65% of the public would now support such action, air strikes, just 28% are opposed. an nbc poll out today suggests a third of americans would support the use of ground troops in the attack against the islamic state group. democrats feel that if the public continues to feel the president is not showing the right leadership it could hurt the president and also derail the democratic chances as the public takes it out on them and the democrats in danger of losing control of the u.s. senate, if that happens this november, then the final two years of the obama presidency would effectively be dead. the politics are huge not only

for president but also his party which is counting on the public coming around to him. >> david, thank you. today those who died in the attacks of 9/11 received the highest honor congress could give a civilian. lawmakers displayed three congressional medals fifn to the men and -- given to the men and women who died 13 years ago. on flight 93 the jet liner that crashed in pennsylvania. we want you to join us tomorrow morning as america stops to commemorate the deaths. we are standing by for the president's address at the top of the hour. what he's expected to say and what he's likely to receive from americans and around the world. we'll have coverage right after this. this.

>> a live look at the white house coming up here with the president scheduled to address the inflation at the top of the hour. he'll talk about the growing threat from the islamic state and he is expected to say the u.s. is prepared to use air strikes against the group

wherever they exist. carl senate has been a foreign correspondent in 15 countries, reporting extensively throughout the middle east, he's in boston tonight. charles welcome. >> thanks john. >> i know you knew james foley well. in some ways, the attention that the death of your friend got seems to have changed everything. do you think the video, the horrible video that we saw of these journalists being killed really sort of moved the count country? >> i do. i think there's data to back that up. there are polls that show that just about 90% have seen that news have heard about those horrific images of the beheading of james foley and two weeks later of steven sotloff another journalist. what we do as journalists is directly under attack by i.s.i.s. i think they are quite a force

to reckon with. quite a dark force to reckon with. but not to forget, these are two journalists who are trying to do their jobs who were beheaded. and i think that message has really resonated. and i think it really has become a emotional binding element for the country. i don't know if policy made of emotion is very productive. jim foley was my friend. i feel very emotional about his death. i feel very emotional about seeing the islamic state put out of business. i think there are a lot of people who feel that way. this is a pivotal moment. i think in my 25 plus years covering the middle east one of the most difficult foreign policy challenges the united states has faced in the very long time. >> in some ways as disturbing as those pictures were in some ways it's just an example of the horror that the people in syria and iraq are experiencing as

well, right? >> right, absolutely right. one thing to remember the death of journalists has gone up significantly in recent years we know that but 90% of those journalists who are killed we have to remember are from the countries where they're reporting. so there are many more iraqi journalists and syrian journalists who have been killed in recent years and i think you make a very good reminder for us all. this is a sobering moment but one where we need context. the islamic state is terrorizing and beheading many people inside the swath of land that it's controlling between syria and remark. it really poses away i would say -- what i would say is a historic event in the middle east. a 100 year event. we're seeing the manipulation of world -- the maps of the middle east of world war i tear or fray. i think it's one of the most

pivotal foreign policy speeches that president obama has ever had to make. very perilous, and very important to get this right. i think we all are going to be listening very carefully but i don't really know how he's going to pull this one off. >> we hear that the president is going to talk about forming a broad coalition to fight the islamic state group. who would be the major players you think in that? >> well i think you just look around the region and you'd see that. i mean turkey for sure needs to be a major player. they need to act quickly to shore up their border which has been so porous and really helped contribute to the build of the islamic state. but turkey remember also has 49 of its own people being held hostage by the islamic state, including the consul general from mosul. so turkey is going to be looking at this with the fate of 49 of its own citizens hanging in the balance. that's going to really i think

shape their response. the british of course will be part of a coalition but again they have a british citizen who is being held hostage an ngo worker who was on the horrific video of the beheading of steven sotloff with this ominous warning that this british citizen is next. the british are going to be part of a coalition i think we can bet on that but they know that the stakes are high and people's lives are at risk. saudi arabia will be a pivotal partner. it is likely they will provide the camps, they will do that begrudgingly, knowing that that is going to cost them politically at home. i think the pieces are complex and no piece is more complex than iran. there is some evidence some reports that iran already has military advisors and soldiers on the ground who are already involved. i mean that idea of a u.s.-iranian sort of part of a coalition may be not working

directly together but moving in the same direction is a pretty extraordinary thing to consider. >> charles senate it's good to talk to you tonight. we are all so sorry about the death of your friend. we look forward to hearing from the president tonight as well. thank you. >> thanks very much. thanks for saying that. >> we are covering every angle of the president's address, mike viqueria, you've already gotten some information about what's in the speech. tell us about it. >> well john i think we can expect the president to authorize and ask for more air strikes and expanded air campaign not only within iraq itself but for the first time, crossing the border, a border that officials insist from top to bottom that no longer exists. between iraq and syria. obviously it is going to be very controversial. we expect the president to say that this is not going to be a short term operation and the excerpts that the white house has already released, this is

what they want to emphasize and they talk about the need for a coalition, in the excerpts they mention it more than once. the precedence of air campaign drone campaign and from yemen and somalia, a couple of reasons for that. it demonstrates that these wars can be waged without the use of american combat boots on the ground as the president often uses the term. also, that the president also has the -- already has the authority from congress to go ahead and act after all, the united states military has been pursuing terrorists for some 14 -- some 13 years now in the days immediately following september 11th when the congress passed the so-called authorization of the use of military force, this is something that has been cited by successive presidents both president bush and president obama. yes again there will be no more combat troops on the ground.

i heard you talking with a previous guest there, we mention again the white house allowed a photo op, a very unusual photo op, of president obama on the phone, allowing the journalists to shoot through panes of glass outside the oval office. he was on the phone with king abdalla of saudi arabia. there are reports that we will expect the president within 15 minutes announcing as your guest just mentioned that the training of the moderate vetted opposition within syria, the free syrian army will take place by americans but on saud territory. -- sawedi territory. very significant. not the least of which it was the sawedis who were very, very upset. virtually one week ago president obama backed off what seemed to be an obvious threat to bomb the bashar al-assad force necessary this case after he deployed chemical weapons and killed

hundreds of innocent people in syria itself. the saudis thought the president should go forward. the president took a walk around the south lawn with his chief of staff and said he was in favor an air campaign but he was going to go to congress first for authorization. no such reservations on this occasion in terms of going to congress but one more thing john. there will be no vote to authorizes this, that's clear in congress but there will be a vote to authorize this, if the campaign drives back islamic state forces from their strong holds in syria who takes that space. the administration wants to arm with military aid the free syrian army. that's going to require a vote by congress. that's going to be controversial. there may be a de facto authorization vote, no matter which way you look at it that will happen next week john.

>> the u.s. will go after i.s.i.s. wherever they are, it's likely to say, i guess that would be a reference to syria but what else does that mean if anything? >> well, i think that the president again is citing the precedent of yemen, of somalia that he already has the authority to do that. there was some question a month ago when the bombing campaign started in iraq, the administration itself has cited the fact that there is no border and the enemy they're fighting straddles what was the border between iraq and syria. i don't think there's a question even though white house would dispute the notion quite strongly, that there has been an almost imperceptible mission creep, an expansion of the mission. when the president talked about possible air strikes into iraq that he was sending up to 300 military advisors at the time. that figure today as the president is about to speak,

more than 1,000, more than three times the number of military advisors. air strikes were going to protect american citizens and american facilities, that obviously has expanded as well john. >> mike viqueria, in washington, thanks mike. nick schifrin joins us from our middle east bureau. what's being done on the diplomatic front? >> pretty much everything the u.s. can think of. the u.s. needs a coalition of the willing, that's the phrase president bush used before the war in iraq. taking that mantle up and that means pretty much everyone in the region trying to find allies, trying to find people who will help it defeat the islamic state group. because the bottom line here is the u.s. cannot defeat islamic state alone and it cannot defeat

the islamic state militarily. and so it turns to diplomacy and it turns to countries who are often enemies and trying to bring them together. what does that mean? it looks to iran as mike said, fighting the islamic state, the u.s. will essentially turn a blind eye to that. saudi arabia the traditional enemy of iran as mike mentioned going to train moderate syrian rebels who will fight the islamic state. other countries in the region, you asked about where the u.s. will follow the islamic state, it's not only physically, financially absolutely, as islamic state fighters get financing through kuwait according to officials, they will be part of this coalition as will turkey which needs to cut off the borders. that's where foreign fighters get into syria and join the islamic state. and jordan always in the center of this region in terms of its intelligence apparatus and

military apparatus, tens of thousands of jordannians are defending both intelligence an military and that will become a hub in addition to sawtd raib to fighting the islamic state -- to saudi arabia to fighting the islamic state. >> based on the secretary of state's movements and travels lately? >> yes, that's certainly, that the u.s. talks a lot about bridging this divide. because the war in syria and to a certain extent the war in iraq have become proxy battles between shia iran and sunni saudi arabia. you listen to president obama's speech in the next few minutes and his statement on sunday morning. and actually what the united states is more concerned about is a sunni sunni divide. basically you have not had unanimity against islamic state

group which is of course sunni. what the u.s. is hoping to come out of saudi arabia, to come out of the eun eunt united arab emi, that the united states provides a greater threat to their countries than shia iran has historically. that is a shift and that is when the u.s. wants these countries to respond to the president's peach by saying yes we take this mantle we now believe that there is american leadership that they can hold onto, that they can follow essentially in the middle east, the u.s. is focused on the middle east and all of those sunni countries can unite against this group even though it itself is sunni. >> nick schifrin, thanks so much. are scrawrray suarez will be wa. ray will nato be playing a role in this campaign?

>> nato is part of that coalition that's being built by the obama administration john. it's already in the last couple of weeks been pushing for more action. the germans, who it was noted this afternoon on my program, hadn't armed anybody outside of europe. hadn't taken a side in a conflict since the second world war. our arming the peshmerga the fighting force of the kurdish autonomous region in northern iraq over the last decade one of the most effective fighting forces in the region they need help and are getting it from germany. the prime minister of france, laurent fabruse, made clear that it would take part. and david cameron's government have assured the obama administration that they will help in this assault in part because they know that british nationals are on the ground

fighting with the islamic state in syria and iraq and they fear what it means for britain if those fighters are allowed to filter in and out of their home island. >> we are told by the way that the president's going to make the speech from the state floor the same location where he announced the killing of osama bin laden. let's talk about this coalition. we heard from a former guest that this is a significant moment in the history of the middle east. why do you think, if you agree, why do you think this is so significant? >> well, iraq was kind of a linchpin. it ran all the way to the borders of nato, in the iraqi turkish border. it also had on one flank, shia iran, on the other flank syria and on the other flank jordan and saudi arabia. it is sort of the key stone. if it's falling apart, if it's

falling to pieces as it has in recent months, that is a significant event and as was pointed out earlier it's rewriting the map of the middle east that's been stable since the first world war with the collapse of the ottoman empire. less involvement with the government in baghdad, which is something they've render for for decades and -- yearned for, for decades and the they may be in a stronger position to do just that. >> ray, stand by for just a second. i want to try bring back mike viqueria from the white house for a second here. mike try to put this into perspective for us. compare this to other addresses to the nation the president has made. >> reporter: john, it's an interesting question and you made the comparison he's going to be on the same floor of the white house, just inside the port co-behind me they call it the state floor of the white house, certainly a dramatic

setting. there was some speculation when the president announced on sunday that he was going to be making this speech that the networks were not going to grant him prime time. it would be a daytime speech. obviously the white house has prevailed now. this is going to be an expansion of an air campaign. it is obviously not a ground invasion. so the question becomes really a rhetorical one. this is a president obviously nobody needs to be reminded campaigned on ending the iraq war, ending the afghanistan war in 2008, and in 2012, and particularly the afghanistan war, when iraqi troops were pulled out came under some criticism for not reaching an agreement with the iraqi government to leave behind some forces although the actual forcforce -- status of forces agreement was reached in the waning times. what the president terms a cancer beginning in syria has met as at a size -- metastasize.

the white house has been reluctant to arm what they now term the moderate vetted opposition the free syrian army for quite some time. can that be done, is that a viable fighting force, without helping the assad regime from defeating one of its forces. >> mike let me take back one of the comments i made, i believe the state floor is not the same floor -- >> it is same floor. we'll do the geography, the second floor is called the state floor. the east room is where the statement about osama bin laden was made. >> let me bring back david schuster for a moment. the president is going to make a relatively short speech here tonight. what sort of quick points do you think he's going to try to make?

>> well, he's going to try to do this without getting into too much operational detail about how the operations will work. before he started talking about the idea of how he would start taking on islamic state, he kept using the word methodology. the president has a cautious approach to this, a step by step approach and he talked about entering the third phase. the air strikes, working the coalition partners, can the president pull this off by saying, this is our plan and make sure he's protected politically from both lawmakers and the public who are assuming this is going to be a little bit faster than war against the islamic state will happen quicker and more directly than the white house is planning. >> ray, we talked about the audience that will be watching tonight. how do you think -- i mean are the american people waiting to hear this speech?

>> well, it's the nature of things these days, that the president no longer commands the kind of enormous audiences that lbj or richard nixon would command. but it filters out to the public various ways once it's said in the public and the president is going to be explaining a very difficult and subtle strategy tonight, something that moves very fast and something that moves very slow at the same time. remember those air strikes can happen the minute a target list is given to drone operators and the fly-boys on the deck of an aircraft carrier. but the saudis training moderate 18th i.s.i.s. fighters is not something that happens in two weeks or four weeks or maybe even ten weeks. it is a go-slow and go-quick strategy that happens at the same time. he doesn't have much time to sell it, but right now he's got

the public's attention and the public's support on this policy. >> this sounds as ray described it as a huge hill to climb for the president. >> john you're absolutel absolu. some say the president is engaging in some hopeful thinking, we mentioned the viability of the free syrian army, the vetted opposition, that the administration is going to try arm with overt arms. we talked with the issues coming up in congress next week. and a new prime minister coming in that has happened but whether that new government can actually be a unifying force has yet to be seen. >> stand by. our coverage begins right now.

♪ >> the u.s. on the verge of a new war. president obama tries to build a coalition to fight this self declared islamic state. sweeping through syria and iraq, mass killings, beheadings. religious persecution. tonight our special report: the rise of i.s. a presidential address. >> and a live look at the white house tonight where the president is scheduled to address the nation at the top of the hour. he will talk about the growing threat from the self declared islamic state and is expected to say the u.s. is prepared to use air strikes against the group wherever the fighters exist. mike viqueria is at the white house. mike what will we hear tonight? >> john you will hear the president talk about the expansion of the military campaign over iraq. that campaign is also going to be expanded. the president is expected to announce expansion into syria for the first time